Stimulus payments, public benefits push NY income to pre-pandemic level

Stimulus payments, public benefits push NY income to pre-pandemic level: A rise in government spending on public benefits is boosting personal earnings across New York. Personal income surpassed pre-pandemic levels by almost 13% in the first quarter of 2021, according to a report last week by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Much of that growth, however, is attributed to an increase in transfer payments — including Social Security, unemployment insurance and economic stimulus payments — from the last three months of 2020 to the first three months of 2021, the report found.